Apparatus for operating railway dump cars



' T. J. KOCHAVE R APPARATUS FOR OPERATING RAILIA Y DUMP CABS July 21, 1953 2 Sheet-Sheet 1 Filed July 30, 1951 mvmon: 705000251 00/41/52,

u u U 0 5 July 21, 1953 T. J. KOCHAVE APPARATUS FOR OPERATING RAILWAY DU I|P CARS Filed July 30, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented July 21, 1953 APPARATUS FOR OPERATING RAILWAY DUMP cans Theodore J. Kochaver, Virginia, Minn; assignor to United States Steel Corporatioma corporation of New Jersey Application July so, 1951, Serial No. 239,365

l The present invention relates to railway car operating equipment andmore particularly to an apparatusv for mechanically actuating the hopper mechanisms of bottom-dump railway cars.

Prior to my inventionthe operating mechanism of hopper cars, which usually consisted of a main dump shaft and pinion keyed thereto which operated the hopper door operating gears, was actuated manually by workmen who applied a wrench or similar tool to the end of the dump shaft and rotated the same to either open or close the hopper doors. This practice at best was dangerous and time-consuming. This manual method of operation was particularly disadvantageous Where a large number of bottomdump cars were to be handled in a short period of time such as cars used for carrying iron ore to crushers and concentrators.

It is accordingly an object of my invention to provide apparatus for mechanically operating the dumping mechanism of railway hopper cars in a safe and speedy manner.

These and other objects will become more apparent after referring to the following specification and attached drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view;

Figure 2 is a view taken on the line 11-11 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a view taken on the line III-III of Figure 2 showing the apparatus in operation with a hopper car; and

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line IVIV of Figure 3.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, reference numeral 2 indicates a base member mounted on four railway car wheels 4 adapted to move along a narrow gauge track 6 positioned parallel to a track 8 used for movement of hopper cars. A pair of spaced vertical supports I0 project upwardly from the top surface of the base 2 intermediate its ends.

provided with a pair of spaced bearings 20 which project from the sides of the platform. A hollow drive shaft 22 is carried between the bearings 10 with its ends P j cti g t erethrough. An

Platform A- hole 12 is provided through the upper portion of each of the sup- 3 Claims. (CI. 8154) 2 elongated coupling 26 having a socket 28 on one end is slidably fitted at its other end 30 by means of a spline connection in the bore of the shaft 22. The end 30 of the coupling 26 is substantially square in shape and is only slightly smaller in cross sectional area than the bore of the shaft- 22 so that it may slide therein and at the same time rotate along the shaft when it is rotated. Since difierent type railway hopper cars vary in width it is necessary that coupling 26 be transversely adjustable relative the platform l6. Thus, when a wide car is to be operated, the coupling 26 is moved inwardly within the bore of the shaft 22 and when a narrower car'is to be serviced the coupling is moved outwardly.

The opposite projecting endof the shaft 22 is provided with a sprocket wheel 32 around which extends one end of an endless drive chain 34. The opposite end of the drive chain 34 is mounted around the sprocket wheel 36 keyed to the shaft of a reversible electric motor 38 which is disposed on the upper surface of the platform l6 remote from the bearings 20.

A panel board 40 projects upwardly from the end I8 of the platform I6 and carries a control switch '42 for controlling the motor 38. I

The height of the dump shaft is not the same on all railway cars and therefore it is necessary to provide means whereby the operating height of the coupling 26 may be varied to accommodate the various size hopper cars. A screwjack 44 which pivots the platform I 6 is provided for this purpose. The screw jack 44 having a hand wheel 46 is attached at one end to the underside of the end It! of the platform [6 and is pivotally attached at its opposite end between a pair of brackets 48 ailixed to the forward end of the base 2. Rotation of the hand Wheel 46 causes the screw jack to pivot the platform [6 to either raise or lower the end [B in order to place the coupling 26. in operating position.

In operation the apparatus is rolled on the track 6 to a point adjacent the dumping station where it is desired to unload the contents of the hopper cars. A hopper car W is spotted on the track 8 adjacent the car trapper. The height of the platform I6 is adjusted by means of the screw jack 44 until the coupling 26 is positioned opposite the dump shaft X of the car W and the coupling is adjusted as described above until the socket 28 engages the end of the dump shaft. The switch 42 is then operated to actuate the motor 38 which in turn rotates the drive chain 34 to rotate the drive shaft 22 which in turn causes the coupling to turn the shaft X. Rotation of the shaft X opens the hopper doors Y of the car W in the customary manner. After the contents of the car have been dumped the switch 42 is again actuated to reverse the motor 38 which reverses the rotation of the drive shaft 22 and the dump shaft X to close the hopper doors. The coupling 26 is then disengaged from the end of the dump shaft X and another car is moved into position whereupon the operationis repeated.

While one embodiment of mylnvention has been shown and described it will be apparent that other adaptations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for operating the dump actuating shaft of a bottom-dump railway hopper car comprising a base member, a pair of spaced vertical supports projectingupwardly from said base member intermediate itsends, an elongated platform pivotally mounted between and supported at a point intermediate its ends by the upper portions of said supports, means for pivoting said platform whereby theheights of the ends thereof are adjusted relative to said base, a pair of spaced bearings attached to and projecting from one end of said platform, a hollow drive shaft rotatably carried between said bearings with its ends projecting therethrough, an elongated coupling having one end slidably inserted in the bore of said shaft and its other extending outwardly of one of the projecting ends of said drive shaft for engaging the end of said dump shaft, said coupling being adapted to be moved for longitudinal adjustment within said bore, and drive means connected with said shaft for rotating the same to thereby turn said coupling.

2. Apparatus for operating thedump actuating shaft of a bottom-dump railway hopper car as defined in claim 1 in which said drive means include a sprocket wheel secured to the projecting end of said drive shaft remote from said coupling, motor means mounted on said platform, and an endless drive means connecting said sprocket and said motor means.

3. Apparatus for operating the dump actuating shaft of a bottom-dump railway hopper car as defined in claim 2 characterized by said base member being wheel mounted for movement along a track.

THEODORE J. KOCHAVER.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,787,999 Schultz 'Jan. 6, 1931 1,823,426 Ferris Sept. 15, 1931 1,877,595 Royal Sept. 13, 1932 2,228,589 Backes Jan. 14, 1941 2,277,987 Kaseberg Mar. 31, 1942 2,523,193 Carson Sept. 19, 1950 2,566,999 Stone Sept, 4, 1951 

